Christchurch

Todd: So, Hello!

Gabrielle: Hi!

Todd: Can you say your name please?

Gabrielle: Gabrielle:

Todd: Gabrielle. Now, Gabrielle you talked to us last year.

Gabrielle:That's right!

Todd: And you said that you're from Christchurch?

Gabrielle: Uh-huh, from Christchurch in New Zealand.

Todd: OK, can you talk about your city?

Gabrielle: Absolutely! Absolutely! Well, Christchurch I guess compared to Japan is pretty small, but for New Zealand it's quite a big city. I think it's a great place. Yeah, we've got the beach, the mountains, yeah so city center and nature, really close.

Todd: Sounds nice! How many people live in Christchurch?

Gabrielle: Oh, that's a good question. Gosh! Were certainly not up to a million! I guess about 600,000 people.

Todd: Wow, that's it! Just 6!

Gabrielle: That's it. Big city in New Zealand!

Todd: Wow! So there's three big cities in New Zealand!

Gabrielle: That's right! That's right! We're probably the second or third biggest city.

Todd: Uh, what's the transportation like?

Gabrielle: Well, I use my bike usually or a car. We certainly don't have the trains like Tokyo, but there's a bus system. It's not too bad, but most Kiwis have cars. Yeah, more convenient.

Todd: OK, now can I ask you about costs?

Gabrielle: Sure! Sure!

Todd: OK, and you can say Japanese yen prices.

Gabrielle: Yeah! Yeah!

Todd: How much is an apartment? A one bedroom apartment, downtown?

Gabrielle: Well, to be honest we don't have that style. We've got plenty of space so we usually rent a house which has three bedrooms and a garden, for example, and much cheaper, much, much cheaper. I'm just trying to convert.

Todd: Three bedrooms and a garden!

Gabrielle: Yeah! And often we go "flatting" which means we share the house with maybe a couple of friends, probably pay about, I was paying $80 a week for my room so, oh, sorry my conversion rate is not working too quickly at the moment.

Todd: That's really cheap though!

Gabrielle: It's incredibly cheap. Yeah, much, much cheaper! Much bigger!

Todd: Wow! sounds like a nice place! OK, how much is, New Zealand prices OK, how much is a loaf of bread?

Gabrielle: A loaf of bread! To get the good bread, probably about $2.50 a loaf, yeah, so, maybe about, oh sorry, my conversion's not working, I've been in Tokyo for too long!

Todd: How about a movie ticket?

Gabrielle: A movie ticket would be about $13, so it's much cheaper than here. Yeah, definitely!

Todd: And bus fare!

Gabrielle: Bus fare, a dollar fifty, two dollars for one way.

Todd: How about if you're going to buy your friend a sweater, a nice sweater, how much would that cost?

Gabrielle: Well, I like the good outdoor brand sweaters so I would probably say about $50 but an everyday sweater you could get about $15 New Zealand. Yeah.

Todd: OK, Wow! Sounds like a great place. Oh, and last one, the weather, when is the best time of year to visit?

Gabrielle: Oh, summer, definitely.

Todd: So that's December?

Gabrielle: Yeah, so we're going into summer now so December to February, but we have four seasons in one day, so you can count on all weather even within summer. Yeah! Yeah!

Todd: Do you have a really bad month to go, where the weather is not nice?

Gabrielle: Yeah, usually June, July, it probably rains the most, but we still get gorgeous sunny days in the winter so, yeah there's not really any bad time.

Todd: Oh, sounds nice! Thanks Gabrielle!

Gabrielle: No, problem!
No, problem!